Comment by ngngngng | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ngngngng | Hacker News Reader

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> Purchase the most recent tourist guidebook to your home town or region. You’ll learn a lot by playing the tourist once a year.

This is a great idea, though I try and keep the same principle in mind. I grew up in a very popular tourist area and never visited anything of interest, so I started consciously enjoying where I live and going out of my way to discover new things as if I were a tourist.

> No one is as impressed with your possessions as you are.

Does anyone else get a kick out of "hiding" your wealth? Obviously every Dave Ramsey enthusiast, but I guess I sort of fit in there as well. I wear the cheapest Casio G-shock (love that thing) and drive a 10 year old economy car. I allow myself many luxuries but almost none that communicate wealth to random onlookers.

> If you repeated what you did today 365 more times will you be where you want to be next year?

Oh, that's fun. I've been adding a bit of stoicism into my life. Reminders that I might die today etc. I think I'll throw this one in the mix and see if it alters my behavior.

> No one is as impressed with your possessions as you are.

I would add this corollary as I've seen the reverse problem a lot too:

No one is as impressed with your frugalness as you are.

> No one is as impressed with your frugalness as you are.

Haha, you're totally right. I picked it up from my extremely frugal father and I consciously try and fight it a bit.

Agreed. I have a friend who loves to brag how frugal he is. AFAIK he's not actually living his life. Not saying he needs possessions to enjoy his life but he doesn't spend on experiences either.

As for my possessions, I didn't buy them for others or to show them off. I bought them to enjoy them and I do.

Not really sure what the point of the advice is except maybe don't buy things to impress others.

More than "don't do it; it is bad" it is a "don't waste resources on it; it is not going to work"

>> Does anyone else get a kick out of "hiding" your wealth?

So a number of people are commenting along the lines of "why would you want to care what others think" but I get where you're coming from.

One of the occasions I remember being most tickled by, for -hours- after it happened, was when I was walking to work, wearing just street clothes, my laptop in my backpack, and a woman in a pantsuit asked if I needed help. I was legitimately confused, but then realized - I was walking through a parking deck, underneath a bunch of corporate offices, early in the morning. From her perspective, I was a vagrant. From mine, I lived in the nearby luxury condos/apartments that shared the parking deck (it was a mixed use build, residential, commercial, corporate), was headed to a software job where jeans and a hoodie were expected, belongings are carried in backpacks not suitcases, and the easiest way to get to the shuttle stop on the other side of a super busy street was to go under it via the parking deck.

Another time was when I was buying my first suit with my mom, and got given a massive discount that was not advertised, because the proprietor could see we weren't dressed expensively. We were dressed fine, street clothes, and could afford full price, but he assumed we couldn't (but my mom being a divorced school teacher and me not working yet, the discount was appreciated).

It's not caring what others think, it's finding amusement in the way assumptions and expectations play out.

In a similar vein, I encourage people to edit OpenStreetMap for their local area, adding sidewalks, street lamps, dog poo bins, etc.

Getting to know that level of detail gives you an incredible sense of perspective and really helps you feel connected to your immediate surroundings.

What're the smoothest tools/apps to do that, especially on the go?

On Android, take a look at StreetComplete. Organic Maps has ‘casual’ edit features on both Android and iOS. On iOS nothing beats Go Map!!

A complete list can be found at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Android_ap... or https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_iOS_applic... or just ask here.

StreetComplete: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete#download Organic Maps: https://organicmaps.app/ Go Map!!: https://apps.apple.com/app/id592990211

>> Does anyone else get a kick out of "hiding" your wealth?

I don't. I would like to be able to spend my money on what I want without worrying about what people will think.

But I don't live in that world. If I act working class in the rich world that I work in, I'm going to get judged on that. Which I don't like but I can deal with it. And if I act rich in the working class neighborhood that I live in, I am going to get jacked. Which I don't want to deal with at all.

> Does anyone else get a kick out of "hiding" your wealth?

There's a time for both. Being well-dressed often will have advantages.

> You’ll learn a lot by playing the tourist once a year.

Different take: you will be fooled by the tourism mafia.

I guess you don't mind hiding your wealth online! #humblebrag.

Yeah, anonymously on hacker news where I'm probably below the median lol

Bragging anonymously allows you to not feel the shame. If you are below the median then you are still above a large proportion.

I don't see much point in exaggerating or hiding my wealth.

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